About 1,600 Russian troops operating in eastern Ukraine - NSDC

About 1,600 Russian troops were engaged in the fighting in eastern Ukraine as of Monday morning, National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) information and analytical center spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said.

"At least four battalion tactical groups of the Russian Armed Forces are operating in Ukraine in the area of Novositlivka-Novoannivka-Krasne, Starobesheve-Novokaterynivka, Kumachove-Pobeda, and Scherbak-Markyne," he said at a press briefing on Monday, adding that a battalion tactical group is a formation of about 400 people, reinforced by artillery and air defense.

He said that Russia continued to aggravate the situation in the conflict zone.

"The Russian military are shelling the checkpoints of the ATO forces and civilian vehicles," he said.

Lysenko also noted that over the past 24 hours "anti-terrorist operation forces engaged 37 times with Russian mercenaries and terrorists" in 24 towns and villages in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.